Discovered I have cat 5 wiring upstairs

[thestrangebrew1]

Hey all,

I was looking for a way to hardware some pcs and devices upstairs when I found that I have cat 5 jacks on the same plate as the coax cable where I get cable tv in all my rooms upstairs. I checked to see if I could use them by hooking up a laptop but the lines are dead. It appears that the previous owners of the house had cat5 lines used (I'm assuming) for the telephone (on each jack, the solid blue & blue & white striped lines are connected). I was hoping maybe you guys could help me get this thing going upstairs, or else, if need be, I may have to run my own wire.

I have the following in the master bedroom:



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It looks like some sort of hub, labeled as a distribution module.

I have this setup outside in my telephone panel:

By thestrangebrew at 2012-04-09

Finally, this appears to be the same line going into each of the rooms:

By thestrangebrew at 2012-04-09

I'm an extreme noob at wiring and not sure how to go about getting this thing going. My ISP is comcast, using a coax hooked up to my modem. My router, modem and server are all downstairs and to my knowledge, I don't see any cat5 wiring downstairs at all. I guess my questions would be, where is the point of entry for upstairs? It seems everything upstairs is connected to the telephone panel downstairs. I do not have telephone service, I cancelled it and just have comcast internet now, so disconnecting the wires if needed won't be an issue.

What equipment would I need to get ethernet working. As I understand what I've read so far, I can't have an rj45 line connected to the distributor module, rj45 needs to terminate at rj45 on the other end? If so, I guess I would need a patch panel? But where do i connect the patch panel? To the distributor panel? I have an unmanaged Rosewill 10/100/1000gbps switch that I was planning on using upstairs, maybe putting it in the attic and running cable to each room if I needed to do it that way.

EDIT: Notice the blue conduit on the 1st two pics. It looks like the same one. Maybe I can run some wire but I'm not sure how to get live internet on the wire to begin with.

 

[seepy83]

What equipment would I need to get ethernet working. As I understand what I've read so far, I can't have an rj45 line connected to the distributor module, rj45 needs to terminate at rj45 on the other end? If so, I guess I would need a patch panel? But where do i connect the patch panel? To the distributor panel? I have an unmanaged Rosewill 10/100/1000gbps switch that I was planning on using upstairs, maybe putting it in the attic and running cable to each room if I needed to do it that way.

At the network jacks, you need to punchdown all 4 pairs of wires to the jack.

At the other end, where they are all wired for telephone service right now, you punchdown all 4 of the wires to the back of a patch panel.

Use store-bought patch cables to connect each of the patch panel jacks to a switch. Connect 1 port of the switch to your router.

 

[philipma1957]

How many wires are in the blue wire case? 4, 5 , 6 ,7 or 8

you need 8

to test if they really connect do the following
BUY a 9 volt battery


buy this


http://www.amazon.com/Decoj-LA9-volt...3991246&sr=8-3

I don't care where you get it

next buy this


http://www.ebay.com/itm/YX-1000A-Po...ltDomain_0&hash=item3a6faf2163#ht_1074wt_1076

once again buy any cheap version.


home depot lowes radio shack etc .

now measure the battery should read 9 to 9.5 volts.

then attach the little battery connector to the battery should read the same or a tiny bit less.
then attach the battery connector to two wires in the wall.

then go to the other location see if you get 8.8 to 9.2 volts . due to the distance voltage will be less then the direct 9 volt reading


here is a how to if you have 8 good wires

http://www.groundcontrol.com/galileo/ch5-ethernet.htm


If you don't have 8 good wires you could have one person on one end pull the blue wire case to see if it moves on the other end. then if they are moving you can attach a new cable and use the old cable to pull the new one through the walls.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

At the network jacks, you need to punchdown all 4 pairs of wires to the jack.

At the other end, where they are all wired for telephone service right now, you punchdown all 4 of the wires to the back of a patch panel.

Use store-bought patch cables to connect each of the patch panel jacks to a switch. Connect 1 port of the switch to your router.

When you say network jacks, you mean the jacks that are in the wall in each room right?

And by other end, you mean where that distributor module is? Take the wires there, and plug it into a patch panel, then run 1 cat5 cable to my router? Is this correct?

 

[thestrangebrew1]

How many wires are in the blue wire case? 4, 5 , 6 ,7 or 8

you need 8

to test if they really connect do the following
BUY a 9 volt battery


buy this


http://www.amazon.com/Decoj-LA9-volt...3991246&sr=8-3

I don't care where you get it

next buy this


http://www.ebay.com/itm/YX-1000A-Po...ltDomain_0&hash=item3a6faf2163#ht_1074wt_1076

once again buy any cheap version.


home depot lowes radio shack etc .

now measure the battery should read 9 to 9.5 volts.

then attach the little battery connector to the battery should read the same or a tiny bit less.
then attach the battery connector to two wires in the wall.

then go to the other location see if you get 8.8 to 9.2 volts . due to the distance voltage will be less then the direct 9 volt reading


here is a how to if you have 8 good wires

http://www.groundcontrol.com/galileo/ch5-ethernet.htm


If you don't have 8 good wires you could have one person on one end pull the blue wire case to see if it moves on the other end. then if they are moving you can attach a new cable and use the old cable to pull the new one through the walls.

Each of the wires has 8 wires: blue, orange, brown & green, and another of each with a white stripe I believe.

 

[imagoon]

http://www.groundcontrol.com/galileo/ch5-ethernet.htm

Do not waste your money on a CAT5 crimper. Read the sticky at the top of the forum about how to correctly connect everything. I can even see in your panel box the 110 punch connectors you need.

 

[imagoon]

Each of the wires has 8 wires: blue, orange, brown & green, and another of each with a white stripe I believe.

Can you read off the brand and model number of that panel that says hte1004 on it? Depending on how that is wired it might be reusable or it might not.

If it is not reusable, you would buy some keystones exactly like the one on the wall. The one on the wall is a likely a 110punch. You can get cheap ones for about $4 or less better ones are $20-40. See the sticky about cable installation for pictures. You would then pull the cap off the back of the keystone and patch the proper colors to the keystone. You will see on the side of the keystone that the 8 pins have colors that match the cable. Match the colors and punch it down. On the other end pull the blue wires out of the the "hte1004" block. clip the wires back a little bit. Take a new keystone and punch the wires down to the matching colors. Now use a patch cable to connect a switch to the end in the back room, plug a patch cord in to the wall and attach the computer.

Sticky:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2053136

Pictures 2 and 7 specifically. If you want to get fancy, you use something like picture #4 but it is not required for a small number of connections.

 

[seepy83]

When you say network jacks, you mean the jacks that are in the wall in each room right?

Yes. Each of those Cat 5 jacks should have a label on it that shows you which color wire (blue, blue/white, orange, orange/white, brown, brown/white, green, green/white) gets punched where. You will need a punchdown tool.

And by other end, you mean where that distributor module is? Take the wires there, and plug it into a patch panel, then run 1 cat5 cable to my router? Is this correct?

Yes, the end where all of the cables originate and are currently wired for telephone. You won't be plugging them into a patch panel. You will be terminating them on the back of the patch panel with a punchdown tool...similar to how they get punched into the jacks on the other end. Then, on the front of the Patch Panel, you connect each port in the Patch Panel to a port on your switch, and you connect another port on the Switch to your router to provide internet access to each network jack.

The Patch Panel doesn't have any brains to it. It's just used for terminating cables and patching connections to something else (typically a switch).

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Can you read off the brand and model number of that panel that says hte1004 on it? Depending on how that is wired it might be reusable or it might not.

If it is not reusable, you would buy some keystones exactly like the one on the wall. The one on the wall is a likely a 110punch. You can get cheap ones for about $4 or less better ones are $20-40. See the sticky about cable installation for pictures. You would then pull the cap off the back of the keystone and patch the proper colors to the keystone. You will see on the side of the keystone that the 8 pins have colors that match the cable. Match the colors and punch it down. On the other end pull the blue wires out of the the "hte1004" block. clip the wires back a little bit. Take a new keystone and punch the wires down to the matching colors. Now use a patch cable to connect a switch to the end in the back room, plug a patch cord in to the wall and attach the computer.

Sticky:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2053136

Pictures 2 and 7 specifically. If you want to get fancy, you use something like picture #4 but it is not required for a small number of connections.

It's an axcell hte 1004. A google search didn't yield much. At any rate, I unplugged it, got a leviton cat5e voice & data expansion model, which looks to me like a patch panel. I used the tool that was included with it to punch down the wires according to color. I then went to each jack and punched them according to the "B" color code on the rj45 end. I just need to get an ethernet cable long enough to run downstairs to get internet to the switch, then plug patch cords to the switch from the patch panel and see if it works I guess. I ordered 100' cat6 cable to see if it works. Should be here by wed. I think then I'll test it out.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I'm starting to think I bought the wrong part: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/electr...t5e-voice-and-data-expansion-board-62567.html

I think in the instructions it said to hook it up as 568A and not B. Any of you guys know if this will work as a patch panel?

 

[imagoon]

I'm starting to think I bought the wrong part: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/electr...t5e-voice-and-data-expansion-board-62567.html

I think in the instructions it said to hook it up as 568A and not B. Any of you guys know if this will work as a patch panel?

Most keystones have bother A and B printed on them. While B is more common they are interchangeable as long as you use "A to A" or "B to B".

If you really want to use B on the patch panel even if it is colored to A just switch the orange and green wires.

http://www.utm.edu/staff/leeb/568/568.htm

IE on the 568A patch, patch orange to green, Orange-white to green-white, green to orange, and green-white to orange-white.

----

Also be 100% sure of your wiring

http://www.lanshack.com/cat5e-tutorial.aspx

Shows a typical patch panel with A and B support. Use that to check your order. Most are white strip -> color.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Most keystones have bother A and B printed on them. While B is more common they are interchangeable as long as you use "A to A" or "B to B".

If you really want to use B on the patch panel even if it is colored to A just switch the orange and green wires.

http://www.utm.edu/staff/leeb/568/568.htm

IE on the 568A patch, patch orange to green, Orange-white to green-white, green to orange, and green-white to orange-white.

----

Also be 100% sure of your wiring

http://www.lanshack.com/cat5e-tutorial.aspx

Shows a typical patch panel with A and B support. Use that to check your order. Most are white strip -> color.

Awesome thanks for the info and links. I'll double check the wiring tonight when I get home and reconfig. as necessary. Still waiting on my ethernet cable to come so I can test it out tomorrow anyways.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Thanks to you guys here I was able to get the wiring sorted out and did a preliminary test to make sure I was getting internet to all the rooms upstairs. Now its just a matter of properly running the wire from downstairs, outside and into my attic vent down to the patch panel. But apparently I haven't thought this through enough.

My initial thought was to drill a hole and just run a patch cable through it from outside. I'm starting to think maybe a Jack would be better. Can I have one
end of the cable a plug and the other end of it a Jack? The plug will be connected to the switch by the patch panel and my router would plug into the Jack downstairs?

 

[Smoblikat]

Thanks to you guys here I was able to get the wiring sorted out and did a preliminary test to make sure I was getting internet to all the rooms upstairs. Now its just a matter of properly running the wire from downstairs, outside and into my attic vent down to the patch panel. But apparently I haven't thought this through enough.

My initial thought was to drill a hole and just run a patch cable through it from outside. I'm starting to think maybe a Jack would be better. Can I have one
end of the cable a plug and the other end of it a Jack? The plug will be connected to the switch by the patch panel and my router would plug into the Jack downstairs?

The max length of the run is 90m, with 5m on each side for patch cables to the router/computer. So as long as it doesnt exceed 100m youre good.

 

[imagoon]

Thanks to you guys here I was able to get the wiring sorted out and did a preliminary test to make sure I was getting internet to all the rooms upstairs. Now its just a matter of properly running the wire from downstairs, outside and into my attic vent down to the patch panel. But apparently I haven't thought this through enough.

My initial thought was to drill a hole and just run a patch cable through it from outside. I'm starting to think maybe a Jack would be better. Can I have one
end of the cable a plug and the other end of it a Jack? The plug will be connected to the switch by the patch panel and my router would plug into the Jack downstairs?

I don't recommend crimping plugs on the end of a cable. Esp a patch cable as crimping the ends correctly is beyond the "simple" crimping tool. Your best bet it to grab a length of solid core and pull it down to where you want a jack in the basement and mount it there. Take a look at the sticky, all the gear you need is listed there to flush mount it to the wall. If you don't care about the looks as much, run the cable, pop a keystone on and use a patch cable from the router to the keystone.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

The max length of the run is 90m, with 5m on each side for patch cables to the router/computer. So as long as it doesnt exceed 100m youre good.

I'm not too concerned about the run as it's only going to be about 50'. My main concern was whether I can have one end be a plug that would go to the switch by the patch panel upstairs, and the other end be punched into a wall jack downstairs, and then connecting the router to this same jack via a patch cable.

@imagoon: I'll prob install a wall jack and punch it down then connect the router to it.

Thanks for the info fellas.

 

[Eug]

I'm not too concerned about the run as it's only going to be about 50'. My main concern was whether I can have one end be a plug that would go to the switch by the patch panel upstairs, and the other end be punched into a wall jack downstairs

That will work fine.

BTW, despite the advice against getting one, I use my CAT5e crimper all the time.

 

[imagoon]

That will work fine.

BTW, despite the advice against getting one, I use my CAT5e crimper all the time.

My biggest issue against them is people go overboard with one. I have one for terminating T1 cards for example since many of them have RJ48 connectors on them. I also test and tie the wires down and they are not touched in the locked room. They are also not "in the wall" where the entire wire couldn't be pulled and replaced. It is the people that let them hang from ceilings in the kitchen where the router gets bumped and nudged and pairs break and then spend money buying switches and routers because "the interwebz r slo" because they patches their own cables either incorrectly or in an inappropriate location / use.

So yes.. the tool has a valid use, however it is typically only about 10% of the use that the inexperienced seem to use it for. (When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.)